Official talks investigation of worker death

Two months after a construction worker from Charlotte was killed at the site of the new KSM Castings manufacturing plant in Shelby, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is still investigating the incident.

“That one is still under investigation,” said Dolores Quesenberry, communications director at OSHA. “We have up to six months before the statute of limitations kicks in.”

Quesenberry said the investigation must be completed by July, but that it may wrap up sooner.

“Generally speaking, fatality investigations take three to four months. It depends on the complexity of the case. They have to look at the records and conduct interviews,” she said. “And it also goes under an internal review before we release it.”

The incident happened at the Plato Lee Road construction site on Jan. 31, when Jose Alexander Narvaez, 52, was hit in the head by the cap of a 12-inch pipe.

Narvaez was loosening the bolts that held the cap on when the incident happened, police told The Star. A worker who spoke with police said he walked around a corner away from Narvaez and then heard a loud boom.

“The construction worker said that the cap was under pressure and blew off, striking the victim in the face,” according to a police incident report.

Narvaez worked for United Mechanical Corporation, a subcontractor at the site of KSM Castings, an auto parts manufacturer that announced plans in February 2013 to bring nearly 200 jobs to the Foothills Commerce Facility in Shelby. The company recently started the process of hiring workers for the facility.